Kaspersky, a leader in cybersecurity and digital privacy, has unveiled a comprehensive cybersecurity policy for “bionic employees”. The one-of-a-kind policy was designed to improve the well-being of
employees who take advantage of technology to enhance the human body while minimizing associated security risks.
The new policy was developed in response to the rapid growth of human augmentation, the process of empowering or improving one’s body through bionic technology. In recent research conducted by Kaspersky, human augmentation has gained wide support in Italy, with 81% of respondents seriously considering empowering their bodies with technology. In addition to the enthusiasm and innovation surrounding human augmentation, some legitimate fears have arisen among the cybersecurity experts and community. Some experts are concerned that little attention has been paid to the safety of bionic devices. In addition, the research found that nearly nine in 10 people (88%) said they fear that the “augmented” body could become the target of cybercriminals.
As human augmentation is increasingly present in our lives, the lack of protection of the
bionic devices could lead to significant uncertainty for the industry and present risks for the safe development of technology as well as for the security of the digital world in general. Kaspersky has explored the potential of human augmentation and examined the security challenges that may arise with its integration into our lives.
Following some open discussions within the security community and among the people using this
technology, the company has decided to respond to the need for safety regulation and has drawn up a new IT security policy to limit risks. The document proposes a future scenario in which the number of “upgraded” employees within companies it will be greater, and takes into account real-life testing of Kaspersky employees with biochip implants.
Developed by Kaspersky security experts, the policy governs the procedures for the use of bionic devices within the company and aims to reduce the risks associated with cyber security in business processes. The proposed document is aimed at the entire corporate infrastructure and all its business units. Consequently, it applies to the entire access control system, as well as to administrative and maintenance processes, and to the use of automated systems. The policy applies to all employees, temporary employees, and employees of third parties who provide contracted services to the company. All of these factors aim to improve the cybersecurity of the corporate infrastructure on a broader level.
Marco Preuss, Director of Kaspersky Europe’s Global Research & Analysis Team (GReAT), ha
declared: “Human enhancement is a rapidly expanding technological area that is in fact still unexplored. That is why taking a first step to clarify the issues related to its use and safety will help us ensure that its potential is exploited in a positive way. We believe that to build a safer digital world for the future it is necessary to protect human augmentation today ”.
Kaspersky’s proposed cybersecurity policy offers a range of standardization processes to improve security and ensure better inclusion of employees using bionic devices in the office. One of the main objectives of this initiative is also to involve the global IT and human augmentation community in the discussion, and to make a collective effort to further develop human enhancement security. This includes ensuring the digital privacy of devices, offering different levels of rights to access stored information, and mitigating any threat related to human health.